


Thank Our Colliding Minds

by stylescoalition



Series: Back To You [9]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family Drama, Holidays, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 00:16:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12829209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stylescoalition/pseuds/stylescoalition
Summary: Cody and Randy have only been dating for about a month but Cody thinks they should have their families come together to celebrate Thanksgiving.Randy believes it's an awful idea. But he also believes in doing anything for Cody's happiness so he goes along with it.





	1. Step One: Preparation

**October 23rd, 2013**

 

Now this is truly the way to live life, Randy thinks. Lying in his hot jacuzzi tub, listening to rock music, and enjoying his own company as he lets the facial scrub on his face settle in. It was cold as hell outside too so this is exactly what Randy needs. And when he gets out, Cody is going to be waiting in their bedroom for him.

Even better than all the luxuries life has to offer, like this nice jacuzzi tub, is Cody Rhodes. Randy has Cody to thank for every good thing in his life because nobody else would’ve gave him the motivation and the strength like Cody has. They may have only started dating last month but it was inevitable, and everybody was wondering when they were finally gonna drop the ball. But before then, Cody was still Randy’s biggest motivator, and vice versa. He’s never been so close and open with anybody like he has with Cody and that’s because they enjoyed a certain camaraderie that can’t be replicated with anybody else.

Damnit. Randy wishes he could rinse his face mask off now so he can just cuddle with Cody and tell him how much he loves him. He’s such a sap now when it comes to that boy and he hates it.

But God seems to hear Randy’s internal thoughts and sends him a blessing.

 

“Hey, Raaaaandy…”

“And what might your handsomeness be doing here?” Randy asks, opening his eyes and looking over to his boyfriend with a smirk.

“You know how much I _love_  you, right?” Cody asks with a smile, sitting on the edge of the tub and peering down into his boyfriend’s steel blue eyes.

“And are you aware of how much I love you, my prince?” Randy asks in return, raising an eyebrow and bringing his hand out of the water to gently grab Cody’s, kissing the back of his hand.

Because Randy loves Cody more than anything else in this tragic world. It took him awhile to realize that, and he denied it to himself for the longest time but once he accepted it, everything made sense. How he’d talk to Cody, how he felt about Cody, it all made sense when he realized he was in love with him. Randy never thought that a relationship would ever be in the cards for him and there’re definitely things he still needs to work on (like sharing the remote and giving in when Cody says they should probably buy a new dining room set because the one they have now is _so_  outdated and “Randy, when was the last time this was in style? It’s not 2007 anymore.”) but Cody is more than happy to help him with it.

Randy tries his best and that’s all that matters.

 

A blush rises to Cody’s face upon the kiss, and he leans down to give Randy a soft peck to his lips. “God, I _really_  do love you.”

“I know.” Randy says softly against his mouth, squeezing Cody’s hand before he pulls back away. “So what are you trying to butter me up for?”

“Fuck, dude!” Cody laughs backing up from the tub and standing on his own two feet. “How’d you know?”

“God, we’ve known each other for like, ever, I can read like you a damn book, Rhodes.”

Come on. Like Cody is going to waltz in here just to tell Randy he loves him. Actually, he’s done that a few times since they’ve started dating but there was something different here… his innocent smile seemed _too_  innocent and there was a hint of devious allure in his eyes that spoke of his true intentions.

Everybody else might think Cody is innocent. But Randy knows that he’s a fucking prick deep down that uses that innocent charade to get what he wants. Honestly, Randy is proud of him.

“Should’ve known I can’t fool you anymore.” Cody rolls his eyes.

“I’m smarter than you give me credit for.”

“I thought we agreed I was the brains in the relationship.”

“You’re the brains and beauty.” Randy remarks before closing his eyes, leaning his head back against the tub. “And I’m those things too, but second place compared to you.”

“Ooh wow, Randy Orton is actually admitting he’s not number one at something?” Cody’s eyes widen and he gasps. “We need to call TMZ right now!”

“You’re hilarious.”

“Yes, TMZ, my exclusive statement? Well, Randy Orton, my boyfriend after 6 years of denial, has admitted to me being more smart and beautiful than him and has _then_  gone on to say I’m hilarious. He’s truly a changed man.”

“I’m gonna whoop your fucking ass in a minute, pretty boy, try me.”

“And he has now said he’s gonna beat my ass and between you and I, Mr. TMZ Reporter, that just means me and him are gonna-”

Randy immediately splashes water right at Cody, but Cody’s amazing reflexes causes him to step back with a big laugh as the water barely hits his feet instead.

“Go on with it, Cody.” Randy says, opening his eyes and crossing his arms over the threshold of his tub so he can look over at his obnoxious, yet very lovable boyfriend. “What are you trying to get me to do?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” Cody’s laughter dies down and he wipes the tear from his cheek before he hops up onto the counter of their sink.

“... so are you gonna tell me what it is now?”

“What what is?”

Randy sighs. He thought with them dating and everything that Cody would stop trying to push his buttons but he seems to do it even more.

He’s lucky Randy is head over heels for him.

 

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” Cody rolls his eyes. “But um…” His face furrows together and he rolls his lips back. Cody crosses a leg over the other, hands clasped on top his knee. “Just bear with me, okay?”

“Alright. I’m bearing with you.”

“So you and I are together now.”

“Thankfully, yes.”

“And will most likely be together for the foreseeable future.”

“That’d be nice.”

“That said, this is our first Thanksgiving.”

“Yeah, it’s gonna be badass. I get to eat a bunch of fucking good food and then sleep with you afterwards. That’s a good fucking day to me.”

“Eh… there might be a change of plans.” Cody shrugs, raising his hand so he could look at his nails. “Aw. My thumbnail looks bad again.”

Oh no. How the hell is Thanksgoing going to be ruined for Randy this year?

 

His eyes shift back and forth, raising his head up from his arms and grabbing the rag beside him to throw to Cody. “Get this wet. And then you’re gonna tell me about those change of plans.”

Cody does as he’s told, wetting the rag with warm water before he tosses it back to Randy. “I mean, it’s really not a big change. We’re not gonna be going _out_ for Thanksgiving.”

“That’s good.” Randy nods as he proceeds to rub the facial scrub off his face. “So we’re staying in, it’s not a big change at all - what is it then?”

“I was thinking we could invite both sides of our family over to this house for Thanksgiving this year.”

“And you know what I’m thinking?”

“... what’s that?”

“I’m thinking we push that idea to the back of our heads right now and forget about it.”

“Randy, come on, it’d be fun!”

“Cody, come on, really think about it.” Randy finishes scrubbing his face and sets the towel down so he can narrow his eyes pointedly at Cody. “Do you think our families would get along?”

“They had to get along if our dads brought each other over to hang out. You’re overthinking it.”

“Or maybe you’re _underthinking_  it.”

“What makes you so sure it’s gonna be a shitfest?”

“You clearly didn’t remember the last time our families tried to have Thanksgiving together.”

Cody scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Uh, yeah I do. And it was the best Thanksgiving ever. I wanted another one like it but my dad was like, weirdly against it for some reason.”

“You thought it was the best because you didn’t see the grownups argue a shit ton like I did.” Randy sighs, standing up naked from the tub and stepping over the threshold.

“Uh huh…” Cody mutters, eyes fixated on one of Randy’s biggest appendages.

“Like, they argued over politics and religion and at one point, your dad told mine to eat his ass and started undoing his pants but Dustin stopped him at the last minute.”

“Mmm.”

“Stop fucking looking at my dick, jesus, you’re so horny.”

“What?” Cody suddenly looks up, seeing the unamused expression on Randy’s face. “I was paying attention. Politics, religion, Dusty being Dusty, yeah, I get it, but that was _years_  ago. And,” Cody chuckles, stepping up to Randy, “If I recall correctly…” he points a finger in Randy’s chest, smiling, “We used to hate each other years ago too and look where we are now.” Cody waggles his eyebrows before he leans up to kiss Randy on the lips, grabbing his robe from the tub threshold. He hands it to Randy before stepping back.

“I think we’re a special case.”

“Or it’s a metaphor for the Rhodes and the Ortons finally coming together after so long!”

“Or it’s one of the more bad ideas you’ve ever thought of.” Randy tells him. “And you dated Ted.”

“First of all, I dated Ted like, 5 years ago. Second of all, you two made up and third of all, you’re being too stubborn about this and _we’re doing it._ End of.”

“Whatever, you’re not the boss of me.” Randy scoffs, about to dry himself off until Cody suddenly snatches the towel from his hands.

“Cody, what the fuck.”

“You’re not getting this back until you agree to do it.”

“Like we don’t have a bunch of other fucking towels in the closet, keep it then.”

Cody’s shoulders slump and he frowns, genuinely and not jokingly, staring at Randy with a pleading look in his baby blue eyes. “Please, Randy? It’d be nice and… it’s the first time they’d see us together as a couple and not just best friends. Even if it all goes wrong, it’s still worth doing for that, I think.”

Well why didn’t Cody say that in the first place? Now Randy feels like a colossal dick and granted, he feels like that a majority of the time but now he feels it with remorse and guilt. It’s one thing to fuck around with Cody and tease him like they’ve always done but it’s another to actually upset him.

Randy huffs a breath through his nose, looking at the towel Cody was clutching in his hands. He’s holding it close like some kind of security blanket, looking down at it in thought. Randy’s not sure exactly what he’s thinking about but he’s probably thinking _I really hope my boyfriend gives in for my sake._

Randy does a lot of things just to make Cody happy and this is another thing to add to that never-ending list.

 

He grabs onto Cody’s hands with his, squeezing them gently to get his attention. When Cody looks up into Randy’s eyes, Randy smiles sweetly at him and steals a kiss from his pink, plush lips and allowing his own to linger.

One of the benefits of being in a relationship with Cody now as opposed to just being friends is that there’s more that Randy can do to make it up to Cody without it appearing like he wants something more. He had to try to keep it platonic but now? Now he can steal kisses from him and go over the top with gestures and that’s perfectly acceptable, even encouraged.

Their kiss even deepens and Cody’s fingers move to intertwine with Randy’s, the towel staying perfectly over his arms. Once their fingers are intertwined, Randy pulls away and he smiles more when he sees the small one that just graced Cody’s youthful face.

He never realized how fun it was to make people smile until Cody.

“Well, let’s invite ‘em all over and show them how in love we are then.”

Cody is absolutely beaming now and he even gives a little, excited laugh before he drops the towel to the floor. He throws his arms around Randy’s neck and presses their lips together in a quick, but big, wet kiss. Cody even jumps up and down, continuing to do so as he pulls away.

“You are the absolute greatest!”

And just like that, he’s rushing out of the bedroom, presumably to call his dad to set it all up.

 

Maybe it won’t be so bad after all! Things are different now than they were in the past. He and Cody were adults. Their parents have had time to get over this, and times heal all wounds, they say! And once they see how much Cody and Randy love each other, they have to set their differences aside, right?

They’ll eat awesome food, maybe have some good conversation, and it’ll be a good time!

And then Randy’s face falls when it dawns on him that he doesn’t know how to fucking cook. Especially for two whole fucking families.

His eyes widen in realization and he hurriedly wraps the towel around his waist, quickly entering their bedroom. “C-Cody, babe, hold on!”

* * *

**October 25th, 2013**

 

“It’s easy.” Cody tells him as he lays out the printed instructions on the countertop. “We’ll follow these instructions right down to the dot and then we’ll have made a kickass turkey.”

“I don’t see why I need to learn this.” Randy says, skimming over the words. “Let’s just hire a bunch of chefs to do it. We have money, we shouldn’t let it go to waste.”

What’s the point in being rich if he can’t even spend his money? He doesn’t even cook for himself for Thanksgiving! He orders a special Thanksgiving package from whatever restaurant he’s feeling at the time and feasts. Randy absolutely does not trust himself around an oven and even though Cody’s lived with him for a little over two years, that doesn’t seem to be a concern.

This is such a bad idea.

 

“And where’s the fun in that?” Cody frowns, looking over to Randy. “Then it’s not special.”

“If somebody took their hard earned money and used it to hire a bunch of chefs to cook good food for Thanksgiving because they’re so shit at it, I’d feel pretty damn special.”

“You feel special all the time.”

“Because I am.”

Cody shakes his head with a sigh, going over to the fridge to take the turkey out. “Remind me why I’m dating you again?”

“Because I’m hot with a nice body and you secretly love how much of a dick I am.”

“And I hate myself for it.” Cody laments, slamming the turkey down onto the counter. “Now read the instructions like the good boy you are.”

Randy takes the instructions, actually reading them over. Basic enough! There seems to be no actual prep involved, no actual work. Just stick it in and go. He scoffs, shaking his head and rolling his eyes over how stupid he was for thinking that cooking could be so hard. That was Randy’s problem all along, he simply skimmed the instructions!

“Damn, I just gotta put it in the oven and let it out at certain times? I can do that shit, fuck yeah.” Randy nods.

“It’s not so hard, is it?” Cody smiles, leaning up to peck Randy on the cheek before he walks away from the kitchen. “I’m gonna run down to the store real quick, you need anything?”

“Lube.” Randy says instantly. “And uh, I’m craving KitKats. Get a big bag of those.

“Noted.” Cody chuckles, rolling his eyes. “See you soon, lover boy.”

Randy’s got this all under control! He doesn’t need Cody’s help anymore, he can do this all on his own!

After setting the turkey in the pan, he sticks it in the oven and walks away, thinking he’ll go outside and smoke a cigar as a sort of present to himself for making progress on his cooking skills. He really has bettered himself since meeting Cody, becoming a nicer, more pleasant person to be around and actually making something of himself. Randy’s become more focused on the things in his life that matter, and it was all thanks to Cody’s guidance.

But now Randy can cook without his guidance.

 

About thirty minutes later, Randy hears screaming from the inside and sees his boyfriend with two plastic bags in hand, staring at the kitchen like something’s on fucking fire and when Randy looks, there _is_  something on fire and _oh god, that’s the turkey._

 

“What did you do!!” Cody exclaims.

“I followed the instructions!”

“The instructions say nothing about _burning down our house.”_ Cody blows out a breath and shakes his head, fishing around in his sweatpants pocket for his phone to dial 911. “Yes, hi. I need the fire department, me and my boyfriend’s kitchen is in flames right now and honestly, I don’t think either of us are equipped to handle this.”

That’s probably for the best.

A few more minutes and Cody is off the phone, walking over to Randy as they both look on at the fire in the kitchen. It’s not a big one, but big enough that they can’t take it out themselves.

 

“So…” Randy crosses his arms over his chest. “How about those chefs?”

Cody takes in a deep breath and sighs, pressing his lips together. “Chefs it is.”

Cody thinks it’s fitting how their kitchen is going up in smokes, just like this Thanksgiving will probably turn out to be.

* * *

  **November 13th, 2013**

 

“Okay, so where is everybody gonna sit?” Cody asks as he looks down at his clipboard, gently tapping the end of the pencil against his cheek.

“Wherever the fuck they want.” Randy shrugs, feet kicked up on the dining room table with the outdated dining set as he pops a KitKat in his mouth.

Any other time, Cody would be thankful for Randy not giving a fuck (that’s probably something he’ll tell Randy about on Thanksgiving day), but he really needs Randy to put in effort right now. It seems like Randy’s been going through the motions, letting Cody take care of everything because it’s his idea and that’s understandable, but they’re a team now. And both of their families are coming together for Thanksgiving which means Randy should do his part.

 

“Randy, we need to decide where everybody’s gonna sit so we can minimize any possibility of drama. They can’t sit wherever they want.” Cody warns, looking to Randy.

“Cody, they’re grown adults.” Randy reminds him, looking back to Cody. “They can be civilized for one day, don’t worry about it.”

“You were the one who said we shouldn’t have a Thanksgiving with our families because you said they wouldn’t get along.”

“Changed my mind.”

“You changed your mind, just when it becomes convenient to do so?”

“Yup.”

“Okay, so my dad can sit next to your dad and we can risk having Dusty trying to pull his pants down again?”

Randy purses his lips, slowly chewing on the KitKat in his mouth before he looks down at his feet. “Um. Yeah, I guess not.”

“Yeah, if you actually gave a shit, then you’d know that’s not the best idea.” Cody rolls his eyes, turning his back to Randy and walking behind him. “So they can’t sit together, but they should sit close to us because they’re our dads…” Cody mumbles to himself, narrowing his eyes in concentration as the tip of the pencil dabs at the seating arrangement chart on the paper.

“Hold up, what makes you think I don’t give a shit?” Randy asks, suddenly standing up from his chair with the bag of KitKats in his hands.

“Listen, it’s fine. You don’t care that much about Thanksgiving and it wasn’t your idea in the first place. I’m not expecting much from you.” Cody says casually, not looking up from his clipboard.

“I… I do care that much about Thanksgiving!” Randy scoffs, swiping the clipboard from Cody’s hands and looking down at the paper. “I love Thanksgiving! And you!”

If anybody else would’ve said that, Randy would just laugh them off but whenever Cody says something like that, it ignites a fire under Randy and reminds him to get shit done instead of sitting around like an asshole.

Cody won’t make fun of Randy for the sudden change in demeanor. He’s just gonna let Randy try and do this on his own - after all, it’s not like he’s cooking the turkey.

 

Cody watches Randy with amusement, taking the bag of KitKats situated between Randy’s chest and the clipboard. He crosses his own arms over his chest and tilts his head. “You do?”

“Yeah, best holiday around. Whatever. I’m gonna arrange their fucking seats and they’re all gonna get along and it’s gonna be awesome.” Randy tells him as he quickly walks around to the other side of the table, scribbling down something quickly. “We’ll have Dustin and my brother, Nate, sit next to each other, I think they’d get along real well. Who’s that uh, homophobic uncle of yours again?”

“... Jerry?”

“Yeah, him. We’ll put him with my dad, they can be dumb together.”

Cody chuckles at Randy’s reasoning but finds it very valid all the same. Have people sit next to the ones they have most in common with, makes a lot of sense.

Cody’s about to add on but then Randy’s walking away from him to the end of the table, appearing to be in deep thought over getting this seating arrangement perfectly right. He licks along his lips slowly and when an idea pops in his head, his face brightens up and he nods to himself as he scribbles it down on the paper. Cody just watches him silently, and a bit in awe, not wanting to break his concentration.

Kind of amazing how good Randy can be at something when he actually takes the time to give a fuck about it.

 

“Hey, babe!” Randy exclaims.

“Hey-”

“How long have we had this dining set?”

“I don’t-”

“We need to get rid of it, we need something presentable for Thanksgiving.”

“Okay, cool!” Cody nods in agreement. “We need a new dining set anyways to use all the time-”

“No.” Randy says firmly, levelling an equally firm look at Cody.

Cody looks back and forth, narrowing his eyes in confusion. “Uh, no…?”

“Yes, no. We need a set _just_  for Thanksgiving, it needs to be special. Get your head in the game.”

Cody blinks a few times, actually taking a step back as he becomes… well, taken aback by Randy’s newfound determination. He wonders if he’s gonna do any planning for this Thanksgiving at all now that Randy seems to want to be in charge of it all. Not that Cody’s complaining because he’s curious to see what will happen under Randy’s tutelage.

* * *

**November 21st, 2013**

 

After Randy was done with the seating arrangements, he told Cody that they needed to decorate the house for Thanksgiving and seeing as they have no decorations, they had to pretty much dedicate a whole day to shopping and preparing for it.

It’s actually super weird to see Randy when he’s trying to do his absolute best as opposed to half-assing everything. They haven’t even stepped foot inside Target for a minute before Randy is telling Cody what they need to get.

 

“So listen up, Codes, we gotta get warm colors.” Randy tells him, swiping his thumb across the screen on his phone while Cody pushes the cart into the main building. “Maroons, browns, oranges, maybe a nice blue for some pop, we need to feel like we’re in the god damn fucking sun itself.”

“Randy, when it comes to decorating, I become the token gay stereotype.” Cody reminds him. “Trust me, I know what-”

“No no no, we need to decorate for a Thanksgiving that everybody will remember.” Randy says, looking over at his boyfriend before he gives the phone his attention again.“I even went on Pinterest for inspiration.”

“Hold on a second.” Cody shakes his head, stopping his cart at the end of an aisle. “You went on _Pinterest?”_

“Yeah, what about it? Ooh, hey, look at this!” Randy smiles, pressing his thumb on a picture before he shows Cody the screen. “Look at the front porch, we need to do something like that for ours.”

Isn’t that a nice looking front porch? There were haystacks grouped together and a scarecrow standing in front, holding a “Welcome” sign and a mat that looked incredibly similar right under the door. There were even rustic looking barrells holding (hopefully fake) fruit to the other side of the door, with cornstalks right behind them to create a sort of barrier. Very festive looking and also completely unlike Randy at all.

Cody wishes he knew what it was about giving a fuck that turns Randy into a soccer mom.

 

“Babe, I don’t think Target is going to have all of that.” Cody points out. “But you’re right, it does look really nice. I’d love to have something like that.”

“Just a suggestion.” Randy shrugs, exiting from the app to open up the notes on his phone. “At the very least, we need to do the whole inside of the house.”

Hold on, that wasn’t approved by Cody.

“The _whole_  inside? I thought we were just doing the dining room?”

“Don’t be silly, we need to do the whole house.” Randy replies casually as he walks in front of Cody. “Just follow me, babe, I got it all under control! So we need a new table spread, plates, silverware, we need candles, we need centerpieces...”

Cody watches Randy walk in front, listening to him ramble on about what they need with wide eyes as he tries to figure out if this is a dream or not. He feels like he’s on an episode of Bridezillas but instead of a wedding, it’s Thanksgiving, and Randy is the bride… that’s not something he’d ever think he’d thought of.

He never thought he’d actually date Randy either and here they are now. Everyday with Randy is a new adventure, everyday a new surprise awaiting for the both of them.

Cody’s so into trying to figure it out that the only thing taking him out of it is the big ass wreath of multicolored roses of warm colors that Randy shoves in his face, causing Cody to literally shake his head out of his trance.

 

“This fuckin’ shit is going right on our front door! You like it?” Randy asks, handing it over to Cody and watching hopefully.

Cody takes the wreath, handling it delicately. He observes it for a few moments before nodding his approval. “Yeah, it looks good.”

“Good? Not great?” Randy groans and rolls his eyes, taking it from Cody. “I’ll just put it back-”

 _“Randy,_ it does look great. You know what I mean.” Cody says, snapping his fingers before pointing to the cart. “Put it in there, let’s get it. It’ll look good on our door.”

Randy grins widely and drops it into the cart before he looks towards the shelfs, eyeing each decoration with intrigue. Occasionally he’ll stop at one, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration before either shaking his head and moving on… or going to grab it, before shaking his head and moving on. Every so often, he won’t even take a few seconds to look at a decor piece before snatching it from the shelves, asking for Cody’s approval (and he’ll tell Randy it looks great every time - and it does) before putting it in the cart.

Cody just pushes the cart along and eventually, Randy’s happiness and focus seeps into him as well as he grabs his own decorations, asking for Randy’s approval on those. Randy could do this alone, that’s what Cody was thinking, but with how he keeps asking for his approval, Cody figures he might as well take a step up and get his head back in the game.

After all, this is _their_  Thanksgiving.

* * *

**November 27th, 2013**

“So you and dad are still coming, right?” Cody asks into the receiver, parking his car in the driveway.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Cody.” Dustin replies with a smile, leaning against the kitchen counter. “I’m actually a bit stoked to see Randy’s side of the family again. How is he, by the way?”

“Randy? He’s uh… let’s just say he’s really into this.” Cody chuckles as he gets out of the car, walking along the path to their front door and holding a bag of McDonald’s. “He’s been at home decorating the house all day, with decorations _he_  bought.”

“Am I going to come into your guys’ house to see a disaster?”

“He actually did a pretty awesome job picking out decorations.” Cody assures him, making it to the front porch and smiling as he sees the decorations for outside already put out, that gorgeous wreath hanging at the center of their door - and it looks like Randy managed to find a place to buy the haystacks from after all! It looks exactly like the picture he showed Cody!

“I think he sort of has a knack for this.” Cody muses aloud.

“You think when you guys get married, he’ll be the one to plan it?”

Cody laughs softly and shakes his head. “That’s assuming he’s even changed his mind about it. Who knows, maybe it’ll happen.” He shrugs, stepping onto the mat and wiping his feet. “But me and him just started dating so time will tell.”

“You’ve always been his exception.” Dustin tells him with a raised eyebrow and a knowing grin. “But I’ll let you go. Can’t wait to see ya tomorrow, baby brother.”

“Can’t wait to see you either. Love you.”

Cody ends the call, shoving his phone back into his pocket and opening the door. He steps inside the house, whistling at the absolutely fragrant displays all around him. He didn’t think Randy could do this on his own! He knew Randy did a good job picking out decorations but setting them up is something else… and yet it’s perfect. Like something out of one of those home maker magazines.

 

The lights are dimmed for a warm, inviting atmosphere, and there’s a long, thin, maroon carpet leading down the center of their staircase. Red, yellow, and orange leafy garland spiral around the railing and when Cody looks higher up, he sees Randy currently centering a gold, circular shelf on the wall. He sets various decorative pieces on the shelf, all of them coming together in one big, beautiful way.

Not as beautiful as Randy though, dressed in red and white flannel pants and a white hoodie. Even when he’s dressed in pajamas, he’s the sexiest man Cody’s ever seen… hell, he actually prefers Randy like that.

Cody blushes, looking down in an attempt to hide it before he takes off his black, puffy coat, setting it on the rack. “Ohhh honey, I’m home! And I went to McDonald’s and got you those three fucking Big Macs, you greedy bitch.”

Randy turns around and looks down the staircase to see Cody, smiling and coming down the staircase slowly as to not mess up the carpet. “Is that something you should say to the love of your life who has slaved hours decorating your home so it will be presentable for Thanksgiving?” Randy asks as he makes it to Cody, taking the bag from him and leaning in to peck him on the lips.

“It’s nice to have you home.” He says softly before pulling away, winking at Cody. “Can I show you the dining room? That’s the first room I started on.”

“Absolutely I would.” Cody tells him, following Randy towards the direction of their dining room. The rest of the house is nice but he hopes the dining room will be nicer - it’s sort of gonna be the hub for their Thanksgiving, after all.

Randy walks into the dark room first, setting the bag of McDonald’s down on the table before he goes to turn the lights on and when the dining room lights up, the maroon walls entering his view, the actual table scape is second to enter it and that’s when Cody knows how great this Thanksgiving is going to be. It’s absolutely stunning and he feels his breath taken away from him.

 

There were orange table runners centered throughout the long, wooden dining table, new white plates with maroon edges set at each chair. The silverware was laid out by the plates and on top of the plates were amber bowls on pedestals, with amber wine glasses and even taller, blue ones right by those. In the middle of the table, on the table runner, is a four tiered centerpiece, smallest at the top and biggest on the bottom. The third and the top tier are filled with pinecones of varying size and the second and the bottom are full of green leaves with red tipped edges. Equidistant from the centerpiece are rustic urns, white pumpkins sitting atop of white straw nests.

But what drew Cody’s attention the most was the chandelier, which was once ordinary, now was an extravagant, twirling display of red and yellow leaves with pinecones hanging from gold bows. Cody’s not exactly sure how Randy managed to do that but goodness, it looks great! More than great! No, this was absolutely perfect.

“I take it you like what I’ve done?” Randy asks, a smug smile as he stares on at Cody’s open mouthed, awed expression.

“H-Huh? Oh… y-yeah, yeah!” Cody nods, whistling as his eyes continue to roam around the room, taking in all of the other decorations strewn throughout. “I _love_  what you’ve done. You did all of this by yourself?”

“When I wanna get shit done, I get shit done.” Randy shrugs, taking a Big Mac from the bag and plopping himself down at the head chair. “We should take pictures, submit ‘em to a magazine. I’ll blow all those fucking soccer moms out of the water.”

“They’ll never know what hit ‘em.” Cody shakes his head as he takes his fries from the bag, plopping down on the chair next to Randy. “Wait until everybody we work with finds out what you’ve-”

“Uh uh.” Randy shakes his head, taking a big bite out of his burger. “As far as they know, I’m fuckin’ shit at decorating. They’ll probably want me to come to their house and give them tips and shit, I don’t got time for it.”

“I mean, you could make a pretty good side business from it.” Cody shrugs, grabbing a handful of fries to shove in his mouth. “I could see you as an event planner… er, well, maybe not. You don’t get along with people.”

“If they’re not you, what’s the point?”

“How oddly sweet of you.”

“You’re the only one I give a fuck about, fuck the rest.”

“I only wanna fuck you.”

“You wanna fuck me right now?”

“At least let me eat first.” Cody chuckles.

“We’ll eat and fuck. Eat your fries off my abs, baby boy.” Randy pats his stomach with one hand. He winks at Cody as he takes a bite from his burger, the sauce smearing at the corner of his lips. “Mmm, you know you wanna.” He says around his mouthful, words muffled.

Cody just stares at his boyfriend with an amused grin, huffing a chuckle through his nose and throwing a fry at his face. “Eat first, fuck later.”

“Awww.”

 

Cody is thankful for a lot of things this year, but Randy Orton is definitely number one on that list.


	2. Step Two: Execution

 

**November 28th, 2013**

 

Randy chews at his bottom lip as he continues to swipe his clothes to the right in his closet, desperately trying to find an outfit to wear for today’s Thanksgiving feast. It’s all coming down to the last minute and the closer it gets to everybody’s arrival time, the more anxious Randy feels. To make his anxiety worse, only one of the three chefs they hired showed up today and in a last-ditch attempt for options, he called his mom (and got Cody to call his) to arrive early to help prepare food… and only if Cody and Randy would help out.

What’s the point in hiring a chef if Randy’s gonna end up cooking the food anyways? But maybe he’ll learn something from the chef - Cody would want him too.

That’s the only damn reason why Randy cares so much about planning out this Thanksgiving. After Cody called him out on his laziness, Randy immediately felt bad and wanted to prove his boyfriend wrong as to make him happy. So he’s decided to take charge of everything, from the seating arrangements, to the decorations, to the food they’ll serve. And Cody? He just gets to sit back and enjoy his idea coming to fruition. It’s been a stressful few weeks but seeing the smile on Cody’s face is absolutely worth it.

 

Randy takes a random Ed Hardy shirt from the hanger, holding it up to his naked chest and almost dropping it when he hears the door to his bedroom close.

“You’re not wearing _that_  to dinner, are you?” Cody asks, wearing a nice pair of jeans and a short sleeved black polo, a black jacket on top.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Everything. That’s what douchebags wear.”

“I’m still kind of a douchebag.”

“Yeah, but you can’t look like one in front of our families.”

“... I wasn’t gonna wear it anyways.” Randy defends himself, putting it back in his closet.

Randy can always trust Cody when it comes to picking an outfit. Anytime they have to go out to a formal event, he always looks to Cody for guidance. He was secretly hoping Cody would’ve come in here sooner but then he got tired of waiting and tried to fend for himself… what would he do without his gorgeous boyfriend?

 

Cody rolls his eyes and walks on over, helping Randy leaf through his shirts and pants. “You don’t have to dress up super fancy but you can’t dress like you’re going to some random bar either. It needs to be like… formal-casual, and Ed Hardy doesn’t even qualify for either of those categories.”

“And I told you, I wasn’t gonna wear it anyways.”

“I believe that you believe that.” Cody says as he takes a long sleeve black button up from the closet and then grabbing a pair of jeans, just as nice as the ones he’s wearing. He smiles and turns to the taller man, shoving the clothes into his hands. “Wear those, you’ll look real nice. And we’ll match.”

“Matching is so overrated.” Randy mumbles, taking the clothes anyways to change. He knows better than to argue with Cody about clothes.

“We need everybody to see just how much of a disgustingly sweet couple we are and this is the perfect way to show that.”

“Remember how everybody thought we were disgustingly sweet before we even became a thing?”

“Was this before or after the first time we tried to be a thing?”

“Ouch. I thought I told you that I was stupid back then and trying to figure things out?”

Imagine having drunk sex with your gay best friend that you were pretty sure you had feelings for. Now imagine being a straight guy doing that. And you’ve never had feelings for anybody before. And you’ve never been in a relationship. Randy prides himself on not being afraid of things but he was deathly afraid to screw things up with Cody in this new territory he’s never trekked through before, so he ended it before things could get too serious.

Randy’s smarter now though and he knows what he wants. And he wants Cody, all the damn time.

 

“You did. But I just still think about what would happen if we actually stayed together after that Halloween party.” Cody says.

“But it’s good it happened now instead of never at all, right?” Randy reasons buttoning up his shirt all the way before rolling the sleeves up to his elbows. “How do I look?”

Cody turns around to look at his boyfriend, smiling and quickly checking him out before he steps on over. “I think,” He rests his hands right over Randy’s pecs, leaning in for a kiss, “that you look absolutely handsome.”

Randy smiles, meeting Cody halfway to kiss him softly, allowing their lips to linger before he pulls away. “You look better. The brains _and_  beauty in this relationship.”

“And you’re those things as well.” Cody reminds him, leaning in to start another kiss until they both hear a knock at the door. “Who’s that?”

“I don’t…” And then Randy’s eyes widen, gasping when he remembers who was supposed to come here early.

“Randy?”

There are knocks on the door again and Randy quickly moves Cody out of the way, rushing out of the bedroom.

“Our moms are here!” Randy yells, stomping down the stairs.

“W-Wait up!” Cody yells back, running out of the bedroom to follow Randy down the stairs.

 

Randy doesn’t wanna keep their moms waiting out there in the cold snow for too long, especially when they’re supposed to help make the food for tonight’s feast. The chef was making good progress on his own but there’s still a lot that needs to be done and there’s nothing like a mother’s love to really bring life to Thanksgiving.

That’s what Cody said. And Randy trusts whatever comes out of his pretty mouth.

* * *

 

 

With Cody and Randy’s moms helping out the chef, making him feel at home, they were able to get most of the food done. Randy even learned a few things, such as how to glaze a turkey and just how _fluffy_  you should make your biscuits - the fluffier, Randy thinks, the better. Cody seemed to be a natural at cooking, catching onto all the terms being thrown around and even the chef sung his praises. At one point, the chef even tried to offer some hands on guidance and when that happened, Randy’s mom was quick to step in.

Randy gets his feisty attitude from her.

 

“So Randy, will you and Cody ever get married?”

Randy almost chokes on his own saliva and he holds a hand over his mouth, raising his eyebrows. He swallows and tilts his head, narrowing his eyes at his mother, Elaine. “Uh, come again?”

“Now you two are dating… logically, you two should get married!”

Cody chuckles and shakes his head, beginning to mix the beginnings of the gravy. “Randy’s not the marrying type, Mrs. Orton.”

“Oh, Cody, don’t be so negative.” Cody’s mom, Michelle, says, rolling her eyes. “You were also so sure that Randy was straight but look at you two now!” She smiles brightly, clapping her hands together. “Like peas in a pod!”

“I’m still…” Randy sighs and shakes his head. “Yeah, I guess we are.” He has a feeling he’s not going to successfully argue being a straight man while he has a _boyfriend_ (nor does he even think he's completely straight anymore) but he’s not looking to get into an argument with his future mother in law.

Yes, future. Because Michelle was actually onto something despite that comment - they’ve only been dating a few months and it might be too soon, but Randy knows he’s not going to feel this way for anybody else like he does with Cody. Romantically _and_  sexually.

Even when he was fucking any chick who looked at him a certain way, it still didn’t feel right. He didn’t feel this attraction to them, thought they were fucking hot as hell of course and he loved their bodies, but he wasn’t… well, he doesn’t know what he felt but it wasn’t a need to fuck them. They were more like very elaborate, pretty ways for Randy to get himself off.

And as for the romantic side of things, Randy knew he wanted to be single for as far as he remembered. He’d look at couples on the screen, or in real life, and he just thought it seemed fake. He couldn’t imagine wanting to spend every second of your life with somebody, willing to compromise with them and sacrifice your time just to make them happy. Along with seeming fake, it seemed really fucking dumb too. Not to mention all the apparent heartache that goes along with it… people were really wanting to go through all of that for one person? Randy never understood.

Then he met Cody and all of those things suddenly began to click. Any time not spent with Cody was boring and when Randy got his way and Cody didn’t, he’d do anything he can to at least get some of what Cody wanted. And if Cody wanted to go see the premiere of the newest Marvel movie? Randy was right there with him, even if he didn’t give a shit about comics - but he does now, because Cody does. He wants to make him happy and now it’s his first priority.

Suddenly, romantic attraction made sense. And sexual attraction made _more_  sense. Randy actually felt the need to fuck Cody, to rip his clothes off and mark him up anywhere he could. And if he couldn’t, he’d be irritable and antsy. He was never like that before, maybe a bit bummed when a girl couldn’t fuck him, but Randy would just shrug it off and fuck his hand instead - just as good, if not, better, because his hand knew just what he wanted.

But Cody knows what Randy wants even more.

Randy’s still not entirely sure what his sexuality is. He knows he’s not gay but he knows he’s not straight either, and he wouldn’t exactly call himself bisexual… but he doesn’t need the label. He just needs Cody.

And he needed to get Cody out of the house yesterday to run useless errands so he wouldn’t be there for when the ring Randy bought him shipped to their house.

Obviously Randy isn’t proposing to him right away but it’s there when he’s ready to. He knows it’s going to happen, he just isn’t sure when. As far as everybody else is concerned though, marriage is not something he thinks about at all.

 

“Either way, me and Cody just started dating so it’s a bit too soon to think about marriage.” Randy says as he walks behind his boyfriend, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pressing a kiss to his temple. “Though I guess it wouldn’t be the worst thing ever.”

“You _guess?”_ Michelle asks, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking her hip to the side.

“Oh, hush, that’s basically Randy’s way of saying he’d _love_  for that to happen. Isn’t it, Randal?” Elaine cooes, going on over to pinch her son’s cheek which makes Randy let go of Cody with a groan.

“Mom, not in front of my boyfriend…” Randy blushes, holding onto his cheek.

“Yeah mom, Randy’s just… his thing is that he tries to act all grumpy and stoic when really, he’s a huge softie. Aren’t you, _Randal?”_ Cody cooes as well.

“Quit it!” Randy whines, rolling his eyes when Elaine and Cody laugh with each other, Michelle and the chef joining in on the laughter as well.

Happy fucking Thanksgiving to him.

But he is surrounded by all his loved ones, at least. That’s more than he can say for a lot of people alive right now. Even if he has a few loved ones with… less than smart views, maybe one or two with views that don’t quite align with the relationship he has with Cody.

There’s a reason why he’s sitting Cody’s homophobic uncle with his dad, after all.

 

“MOM.” Randy says, voice louder than usual to get her attention. “Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?”

“Randy, honey, we’re just kidding-”

“It’s not about that.” Randy shakes his head. “It’s about, you know who...” He raises his eyebrows.

_Dad._

Cody doesn’t really know how Randy’s father feels about their relationship but Randy’s hoping to turn his father onto it before he tells Cody. If all goes well, and if this is the perfect Thanksgiving that they’ve all been preparing for, then he’ll keep his stupid mouth shut.

“Oh.” Her lips press in a hard line and she nods. “Alright.”

“Everything okay, Randy?” Michelle asks, worry etched on her features.

Kind lady, Dusty too. No wonder why Cody’s so damn nice. It runs in the family!

Randy smiles and nods, going over to Cody and kissing his head. “Everything’s fine, just need to go over some personal stuff.”

“You know you can tell me if something is wrong.” Cody reminds him, looking up at his boyfriend.

 _“Sweetheart,_ it’s okay.” Randy huffs a chuckle through his nose before he gently ruffles Cody’s hair. “I’ll be back.”

And Randy has no problem telling Cody about what’s going on in his mind. Years of being best friends with Cody has made Randy more open with his emotions but again, this isn’t something he can divulge in, not yet.

 

Randy and Elaine make their way into the den area, poking his head around the corner to make sure nobody was following them before he joins his mom in the center of the room.

“So dad’s still coming, right?” Randy asks.

“He might be a bit late but he is, why?” She asks, looking at Randy curiously.

“Is he uh, over the whole ‘me being a fag’ thing or does he still have his head up his ass?”

“Language!”

“Hey, I’m just repeating what he told me.” Randy laughs humorlessly, holding his hands up in defense. “Oh, but he gets a pass, right?”

“Honey, you know your father’s just set in his ways.” Elaine reminds him. “He doesn’t mean any harm.”

“Well that’s too bad, cause he did.” Randy shrugs. “Called me a fag and basically asked why I’m risking it all for Cody.”

“You’re not exactly innocent either.” Elaine gives him a pointed look, leaning in to speak in a hushed tone. “What he said was bad but that doesn’t mean you’ll tell him that he should _rot in a nursing home.”_

Randy purses his lips, looking away from his mother and recounting how exactly the conversation began and how it escalated to that point.

* * *

  **Back To: September 26th, 2013**

 

“Dad, hey, what’s up!” Randy exclaims into the receiver.

“Well, well, nice to hear your voice so late at night!” Bob chuckles, sitting back in his recliner. “Something on your mind?”

Randy slowly licks along his lips, looking back to the sliding glass doors from outside. He sees his brand new boyfriend of about two weeks, Cody, playing the Nintendo Wii and getting very into his video game - him and his fucking Zelda games… he’s such a nerd. A nerd that Randy loves with all of his heart, that is.

He smiles as he watches him, sort of forgetting that he’s in a phone call with his dad. He observes the way Cody swings the remote, his bubbly ass bouncing slightly in his sweatpants. Cody’s eyes narrow at the screen and he darts his tongue out along his lips before suddenly chopping the remote down and yelling before throwing his hands up in the air. Hmm, looks like Link died. Randy knows because Cody’s been stuck at this particular part for a good two hours now.

 

“Yoohoo, Randal!”

“Oh, sorry, dad!”

“What got your tongue all of a sudden?”

“Just uh, watching Cody play his game.” Randy shrugs. “It’s cute.”

That’s not exactly how he was going to tell his dad about the new progression his relationship with Cody has taken but Randy’s always suffered from never having a filter.

 _“Cute?”_ Bob questions, sitting up in his recliner. “You think another man is cute?”

Randy rolls his eyes, staring up into the night sky. He knew this was going to be hard but that doesn’t mean it isn’t annoying as hell to deal with.

“Typically, if you’re… dating somebody, you think they’re cute.”

“Now excuse me for a moment.” Bob chuckles but Randy knows it’s not a happy one, rather one of malice. “We’re talking about Cody, right? Your gay friend?”

“That’s the one.”

“You’re dating him?”

“For about two weeks now, yeah. I was calling to tell you that.”

“Thought you said you were never going to be in a relationship?”

“Yeah, well, being in a relationship with Cody makes sense.”

“It makes sense for you to suddenly turn into a fag with your faggy best friend?”

What the fuck did he just fucking say about Cody?

In one of the rare instances in Randy’s life, he’s speechless. Absolutely disgusted at the way his father could be so obtuse, so close-minded. His father’s always bugged mhim about being in a relationship and settling down and now Randy’s achieved it… with a man. And what’s the big deal? He loves Cody. Cody loves him.

Doesn’t his father want him to be happy?

 

“You wanna know why it makes sense?” Randy asks, voice raising. “Because for once, I found somebody who I can actually fucking stand to be around. Unlike your Hepatitis having, fucking irrelevant old ass-”

“Watch it, Randy.” Bob warns.

“No, how about you watch it?” Randy spits. “I fucking love Cody. I think I’ve always loved Cody, and you’re just gonna learn to deal with it from now on because he’s not leaving my life anytime soon.”

“God, Randy, it’s a phase!” Bob’s voice raises. “You don’t love him! You think you do, but you don’t!”

“Well your fame was a phase too, dad! What do you even do anymore, huh? That’s right, _nothing,_ you sit in your recliner all day leeching onto me. You don’t do _shit.”_

“Don’t you disrespect me! I’m the one who made you!”

“Unfortunately, you did.”

“Well if you’re just gonna be a disrespectful little shit, you can forget about visiting the family.” Bob scoffs. “And forget about calling me again.”

“Oh, yeah?” Randy chuckles evilly, licking along his teeth in equal fashion.

Nobody beats Randy at a game of being a rude fuck.

 

“How about I just ship you to the furthest nursing home then? And I’ll let you fucking _rot_  there. And I _will_  do it if you disrespect me and my boyfriend ever again. You hear me?”

The phone goes silent. Randy only knows his dad is still there because he can hear the sound of “Storage Wars” in the background. When he hears his dad give an intake of breath, Randy swoops back in to say one more thing.

“You _will_  respect my relationship with Cody. And Cody is not going to hear about this at _all._ You’re going to keep your mouth shut about what you think of us if you ever visit us, and that’s if I let you. And I probably will because Cody, fuck, he’s just so fucking nice and he’ll be wanting to meet you and I’ll let him because I love him more than anything, sure as hell a lot more than I love you.”

Again, the phone is silent. The silence is a lot shorter this time though, and Randy actually lets his dad speak up this time.

“Tell Cody I hope he’s doing good.” Bob says softly.

“Gladly.”

If Randy had a flip phone, he’d angrily slam it shut but instead, he just presses his finger hard on the “end call” button. Randy shoves the phone into the pocket of his sweatpants before making it inside the house again, grabbing the remote from Cody’s hand.

 

“Hey, I’m trying-”

“C’mere.” Randy cuts Cody off with a hard kiss to the lips, hands holding onto his waist with the remote dropping to the floor. Cody’s eyes close and he quickly gives into the kiss, humming his approval with the remote long forgotten.

Cody’s hand finds its way to the back of Randy's neck, the other holding onto one of his biceps. They both press in deep at the same time before pulling away, Cody blushing profusely and staring into the cold, blue eyes of his boyfriend.

“What was that for?” Cody asks.

Randy shrugs. “Just wanted to remind you how much I love you. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, this is fine.” Cody nods, raising an eyebrow suggestively. “Wanna continue interrupting me?”

“Wouldn’t mind it too much.”

“Then c’mere, sexy.” Cody says lowly before he presses their lips together again.

 

Randy wishes he could forget about his father’s hateful words like Cody’s forgotten about his video game.

Hopefully Cody will never have to run into his father. Or want to meet him, for that matter.

* * *

  **Returning To: November 28th, 2013**

 

“Still think he deserved it.” Randy shrugs, looking back at his mom’s face.

She rolls her eyes, throwing her hands up in the air before backing off her son. “Clearly I can’t change your mind. You know, your father is stubborn too.”

“Yeah, I know, otherwise he would’ve called me and apologized for being an asshole.”

“It’s Thanksgiving, isn’t it? Aren’t you gonna keep the peace with him?”

“I will if he does.”

“Then why the hell did you invite him?!”

“Because this Thanksgiving was Cody’s idea!” Randy’s voice raises. “He wanted both of our families to get together, figured we would finally come together and settle our differences after so long because Cody, god, he always fucking sees the good in everybody and I didn’t want to but it’s not like I can say no to him, you know? So I went along with it and then I fucking decorated everything and did the seating arrangements and decided the food and that’s why I’m here arguing with you.” He swallows and takes a deep breath after his rambling, looking off to the side.

“I love Cody.” Randy says softly. “And I’d do anything he wants me too.”

There isn't anybody else he'd go on fucking Pinterest for, that's for damn sure.

 

Elaine’s facial expression softens, tilting her head as she lays a hand on Randy’s shoulder in a reassuring fashion. “You really love him, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” Randy says in a quiet voice. “And I just want everything to go right today because I want him to have that dream Thanksgiving he’s been thinking about.”

“You know something, hon?”

“Hmm?”

“I think Cody really is made for you.” Elaine comments, nodding sagely. “I’ve never seen you so happy before in your life - or responsible.”

Randy quirks a smile and looks up at his mom. “Saying I haven’t been a good adult?”

“Oh, you have, but… I wouldn’t say you’ve always been the most mature one.” She smiles back, cupping Randy’s cheek. “But with Cody, you’ve changed. For the better.”

“Even after what I said to dad?”

Elaine sighs and pats Randy’s cheek before stepping away. “Well, you still got work to do.”

“Mom!”

“But I still love you.” She smiles back at him before beckoning him over with her hand. “Now c’mon, let’s help Cody and his mom cook.”

Randy nods, shoving his hands into his pockets and following her back into the kitchen.

At least his mom approves of his and Cody’s relationship. It’d be nice to get his dad’s approval but maybe Randy doesn’t need it as much as he thought after all.

* * *

 

 

A few hours later and everybody has finally arrived to the Orton-Rhodes house, the grown-ups drinking wine and indulging in intelligent conversation while the kids run around screaming, that is until Cody directs them to the den area where all of the video games are set up.

Randy really does love Cody.

But he still doesn’t love his dad, who he hasn’t spoken to at all since he’s shown up. Sometimes Bob will see Randy and make a beeline towards him but Randy always finds an excuse to move to the other room or hide out in the bathroom for a few minutes. Childish, yes, but you’d probably feel the same way if your dad didn’t approve of your relationship with your absolutely perfect boyfriend.

Who can fucking disapprove of anybody being in a relationship with Cody? He’s an angel.

 

Randy feels an arm wrap around his waist from behind, smiling at the kiss to his cheek and looking down to see his smiling boyfriend holding a wine glass. “Hello there, handsomeness.”

“Hello there, gorgeous.” Cody leans up to kiss Randy on the cheek before he narrows his eyes in thought. “Can I talk to you real quick?”

“Fuck, what did I do?”

“Nothing.” Cody shakes his head with a slight chuckle. “Just wanna talk about something privately.”

“Are you pregnant?”

“Took a test yesterday, said I wasn’t. What the hell? Did you smoke weed before everybody came in?"

"No, but I probably should have."

"Whatever, stop stalling and come upstairs with me.”

Randy relents and follows Cody up the stairs and into their bedroom, the both of them taking a seat on their bed.

 

“What’s going on, babe?” Randy asks, sipping his wine.

“What’s up with you and your dad?” Cody asks, furrowing his eyebrows in concern. “You two used to talk a lot, used to be close, but you two haven’t talked at all since he got here.”

“Just haven’t found the chance to.”

“Randy, I literally saw you walk outside, _in the snow,_ go to the other door, and go back inside just to avoid him.” Cody looks at Randy with an unamused expression. “You can tell me anything, remember?”

What if there was a bunch of traffic and the easiest way around it was going outside? But he's totally right in that Randy did it to avoid his dickhead dad.

“It’s nothing, really.” Randy shrugs. “He’s just a dick.”

“So are you.”

“Yeah, but he’s the kind of dick that doesn’t have a secret fun side like I do. He’s just an all around dick.”

“And why do you say that?” Cody asks as he sets his glass on the nightstand.

Randy looks at Cody for a few moments, trying to figure out how to tell his boyfriend that his dad is actually a huge fucking homophobe. Now, Randy knew his dad was one of those “I don’t approve of the gay lifestyle” types but he didn’t think… you know… he’d be so hateful. And he knows how sensitive Cody is which is why he doesn’t wanna tell him about it.

 

“Well? Why is he an all around dick?” Cody prompts again.

But Randy just takes a rather long sip of his wine before looking up at the ceiling, enjoying the rich, refined taste of fermented grapes with an oaky aftertaste. Ahh.

“Hey, can I sip some of that wine? Think it’s different from mine.” Cody says, reaching out his hand.  
  
“By all means, join me!” Randy smiles, looking to Cody and handing him his glass.

“Thanks!” Cody smiles back, taking the glass from Randy and immediately setting it back on the nightstand before he looks to Randy with a stern look. “Now tell me what happened.”

_If looks could kill._

Being on Cody’s bad side isn’t a side that Randy wants to be on. After all, Cody despised him when they first met and he made sure to let Randy know it. Believe it or not, Cody can be downright scary if you piss him off so now that they’ve reached his point, Randy sees no other choice but to tell Cody the truth.

 

Randy lies back on the bed, crossing his arms behind his head. “So a few weeks after we started dating, I called my dad to tell him about us, right?”

“Okay.” Cody nods, mirroring Randy’s actions.

“So I told him about us and… he called me a fag. Called you a fag. Basically implied you turned me into a fag. It was fag this, fag that, fag, fag, _fag.”_

“... oh.” Cody’s voice sounds deflated, a frown on his face.

“Yeah.” Randy says softly. “I was real pissed. And I said some real nasty things to him and then he told me not to visit.”

“So why is he here now?”

“I uh. I might’ve… told him I’d let him rot in a nursing home if he didn't respect us or-”

“Randy!”

“He disrespected you, what did you want me to say!” Randy snaps his head towards Cody. “I’m not gonna let anybody get away with that, even if it is my dad.”

Cody rolls his lips back before shrugging and looking back up at the ceiling. “Alright, that’s fair. He kinda deserves that.”

See, if somebody as nice as Cody thinks that, then that says a lot about how much of a dick you are! Cody’s a great judge of character.

 

“But-”

“But?” Randy grimaces, looking back to Cody.

“Buuuut…” Cody starts again. “I still want you to get along with him today. Whether that means talking to him or not, I want peace. I want our families to get along, and eat good food, and remember what Thanksgiving is all about.”

Randy scoffs. “You’re a bigger person than I am.”

“Hey, years ago, I would’ve been right there with you but I have somewhat thicker skin now.” Cody reasons. “It still hurts, knowing he thinks that, and I’m forever going to look at him differently… but we’re better people than he is. And the best way to prove people like him wrong is to be the bigger person.”

There’s a reason why Cody is the brains in this relationship. Randy doesn’t say that to be cute.

“God. You’re so smart. I love you.”

“And I love you.”

“Wanna make out before we head back downstairs?”

“Absolutely.”

 

Cody’s right! Randy’s going to avoid him for the rest of the party as to keep the peace! He’ll keep any negative comments to himself and try to keep the positive train going! With this way of thinking, absolutely nothing can go wrong!

Finally, the Orton’s and the Rhodes will come together.

* * *

 

 

“So Randy, what it’s like dating my boy?” Dusty asks as he begins to slice into his turkey.

“What can I say, it’s been a _dream_  every day.” Randy smiles, smiling more at the laugh Dusty gives before he reaches his hand over the table to hold onto Cody’s.

“Phew, I’m glad Cody’s with ya! Ya know, you’re a good influence on him.”

“Uh, Randy’s a good influence on me?” Cody asks, raising an eyebrow at Randy before looking to his dad. “You mean I’m a good influence on him, right, dad?”

Dusty waves both his hands away. “Sure.”

“Dad!”

“I’m the new favorite, babe, sorry.” Randy shrugs, squeezing Cody’s hand to show he’s only kidding before he begins to carve into his turkey as well.

 

Everybody has only just began to sit down but it’s been positive so far. Both families have been civil and Dusty hasn’t tried to take off his pants so it’s more of a success than the last time they all tried to have Thanksgiving together. Though everything seems positive, Randy can feel the heated eyes on his and Cody’s hand from his father.

Randy and Cody were sat across from each other at the end of the table. Next to Randy was his mom, and then his dad, followed by Cody’s uncle. Next to Cody was his dad, then his mom, followed by Dustin, and then Randy’s brother, Nate. Dustin and Nate were getting along just like Randy thought and his dad and Cody’s uncle had the same thoughts on politics to the surprise of absolutely nobody. And everybody else, like their other aunts, uncles, and cousins, got along just fine, though the cousins got along a lot better - the newer generation of Rhodes and Orton’s aren’t as privy to the family beef like Randy and Cody are.

Randy just hopes it stays like this for his and Cody’s sake and that means _his father better not fucking say a word about him and Cody, or so help him, God._

 

Dusty looks over to Bob, looking at the way Bob looks at their son’s hands and he clears his throat. “So, Bob, how’ve you been?”

“Ah, just fine, Dusty, thanks.”

“It’s nice that our sons are together, huh? They really make each other happy.”

Bob smiles tightly, a small nod before he stabs at some green beans. “Uh huh.”

Cody and Randy give each other knowing looks, blinking in sync before they pay attention to this conversation that’ll definitely not end up in flames. Nate and Dustin exchange the same looks, muttering something to each other before they begin to quickly dig into their food.

“I uh, I think I’m going to go to the bathroom.” Randy announces before he gets up from his seat to speed walk over.

He does _not_  wanna be present for what might happen. Or who knows maybe without him there, the tension will disappear and everybody will get along. Trouble seems to follow Randy wherever he goes.

Cody watches his boyfriend leave, opening his mouth and reaching his hand out like he’s trying to hold him back before he sighs. He supposes he'll go fuck himself, then.

 

Dusty narrows his eyes, a tight smile of his own. “You don’t think so?”

“No, they’re… they’re very nice together.” Bob nods again. “Can you pass the salt?”

“Boy, you sound convincing.” Dusty scoffs before handing him the salt.

Bob gives Dusty an irritated look, the both of them sharing uncomfortable eye contact for a few moments before finally taking the salt from his hands.

“So you wanna know what I really think?” Bob asks.

“Hey uh, little brother, who prepared this turkey?” Dustin speaks up. “It’s real juicy, whoever prepared it did a nice job.”

“Oh yeah, it was actually Randy! Well, the chef helped-”

“Oh, I _dare_  you to.” Dusty crosses his arms on top of the table, leaning in.

Cody and Dustin look to Randy’s dad, the fear rising in both of them. Cody gulps down his entire glass of wine before he quickly refills it.

 

“I think it’s just a phase.” Bob shrugs. “They’ll get over it and move on.”

“Mmhm, I agree.” Cody’s uncle, Jerry, speaks up. “They’ll find good, respectable chicks eventually.”

“Because you found one, right?” Dustin scoffs.

“Not my fault they don’t know a good guy!” Jerry argues.

“Well you ain’t a good guy! Neither are you, _Bobby._ ” Dusty spits.

“Dad, seriously, what’s the big deal?” Nate sighs. “Besides, this turkey is fucking rad.”

“This is America!” Bob argues. “It’s called freedom of speech but these fuckin’ _liberals_  are tryna take away that right!”

And soon everybody at the table is joining in on the debate, hurling insults left and right at each other; liberals against conservatives, Christians against Atheists, dog lovers against cat lovers, it’s World War 3.

 

Cody gulps down his second glass of wine entirely, licking his lips clean before he slumps in his chair. He crosses his arms over his chest and stares down at his food, looking absolutely defeated.

_Where’s Randy?_

 

Meanwhile, Randy is taking his sweet time washing his hands, whistling to himself. He dries his hands with the towel, making sure his hands were as dry as can be before he fixes his button up shirt. Boy, he should really redo these sleeves! They look a bit out of place! He shakes his head, looking into the mirror.

“Come on, Randy, you can do better than that.” He mumbles to himself as he re-rolls his sleeves back up, smiling when the rolls look clean. Nodding his approval at his work, he unlocks the door and walks out of the bathroom, going down the hallway to rejoin the families.

That’s when he notices all hell has broke loose.

Randy’s eyes widen as he watches everybody argue, everybody except Cody, that is. Cody looks miserable, just sipping constantly on his wine and staring down at his food with seemingly no expression in his eyes.

He looks done with life and Randy can’t blame him.

For fucks sake, this was supposed to be Cody’s big day! A chance to show their families how disgustingly sweet they are! A chance for their families to finally come together after so long apart! And then they just… they shit all over them! If they wanna shit on Randy (metaphorically, that is), that’s fine, but Cody? Cody hasn’t even hurt a fly.

 

Randy takes a deep breath, the anger bubbling up inside him before he puts his fingers in his mouth to whistle loudly.

 **“HEY!”** Randy shouts, everybody’s head turning to look at him.

**“WHAT DO YOU CHUCKLEFUCKS THINK YOU’RE DOING?”**

Everybody looks around at each other, a few of them ducking their heads in shame.

“You all really fucking had to do it, didn’t you?” Randy asks, looking around at everybody. “On Thanksgiving, the day to show how thankful you are, you all decide to argue and look like a bunch of _babies._  Pathetic.”

Cody blinks a few times, sitting up in his seat and staring intently at Randy.

“You know what, I told Cody… I told Cody, when he wanted to bring our families together, that it was a bad idea. Because none of you would get along. But you know what? He convinced me that you all would’ve changed in those years apart. That maybe, just maybe, you all matured. Can you believe that Cody, sweet, innocent Cody, made the mistake of thinking that you guys actually had some _good_  deep down? Can you fucking _believe_  that?”

One of Cody's uncles (one of the non homophobic ones) frowns, opening his mouth but Randy holds a finger up.

“NO! No excuses!” Randy shouts. “You all fucked it up! You all fucked up a lovely holiday just to stand on some fucking soap box to make yourself look all important! Well that’s not what Thanksgiving is about! You all wanna know what Thanksgiving is about?”

One of Randy’s cousins speak up, smiling brightly. “It’s about-”

 **“THAT’S A RHETORICAL QUESTION, BILLY!”** Randy points a finger at him. **“YOU ARE AN ACCOMPLICE TO ALL OF THIS!”**

Billy slumps back down in his chair, very slowly scooping up some mashed potatoes.

 

“Thanksgiving is about celebrating your loved ones. It’s about putting differences aside to love and appreciate the little things in life.” Randy says. “It’s about… fucking eating good food and making small talk and after I’m done, you all are gonna take five minutes of fucking silence, think about how silly you made yourselves look, and then you’re gonna start all over, you’re gonna ask each other about the fucking weather outside, and you’re gonna eat all of this good food and LIKE IT!”

Randy looks around at everybody once more, noting the ashamed and afraid looks on their faces but he doesn’t give a fucking shit. You make Cody sad, then that’s what happens. Randy has no remorse after that.

He huffs and shakes his head, grabbing his black Northface from the coat rack in the corner. “I’ll be outside, away from all of _you._ Fucking disgrace-”

“Randy!” Cody speaks up, standing up from his chair. “A word? Outside?”

Randy looks over to Cody, swallowing and rolling his lips back.

He’s so gonna get it now.

He breathes in deeply through his nose and nods, slipping his coat on before he throws Cody his.

Cody takes his white Northface, giving everybody in the room a smile before he slips it on and ushers Randy to the backyard into the snow.

 

“Look, I know I went overboard but-”

“Shut up.” Cody holds up his finger to Randy’s mouth. “Stop talking.”

Randy looks back and forth, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Randy…” Cody stares into Randy’s eyes, his own completely heated. “What you did in there…”

What he did in there was what? Terrible? Scary? Completely disrespectful? Just spit it out.

“... was the hottest fucking thing you’ve ever done.”

Randy’s eyes widen before they narrow in confusion. “It was what? Cody, what- mmm!”

Randy’s cut off when Cody suddenly crashes their lips together, both of his hands holding onto the sides of Randy’s face. It doesn’t take long for Randy to reciprocate and he relaxes, wrapping his arms around Cody’s waist as their warm mouths collide, the snow falling on top of them.

 

This Thanksgiving might not have turned out exactly the way they planned but it was still a huge one to remember for years to come.


End file.
